The Recruit
by Joe's girl
Summary: Post season 6.Jack is happy in his new position training field ops recruits when his past comes back to haunt him. To say more would spoil the story. You'll just have to trust me on this. WARNING: Season 6 spoilers EPILOGUE ADDED!
1. Chapter 1

_Just a post season 6 story that came to my mind. Since we still have three more hours left to the season in the US, I have no idea how it will end for Jack and Audrey or the rest of Jack's dysfunctional family, so anything that happens after episode 6 X 21 is pure speculation on my part. _

_When I started writing this I thought it would be a one-shot, but it was getting so long that I decided to split it at a natural break point into two chapters. I need to polish up the second chapter before I can post it, but I thought I'd post the first one now. I hope you'll take the time to read and review!_

_Usual disclaimer stuff applies. If you know the character's name, then it belongs to Fox. If you've never heard of them before, that's an original character that belongs to me._

**The Recruit**

Jack Bauer was on the phone in his office, back to the door, when Bill Buchanan knocked lightly. Jack swiveled in his chair to face the door. He smiled when he saw Bill and waved him in.

"I've got to go, Kim. I'll see you Wednesday evening for dinner," Jack said into the phone. He paused for a moment, listening. "I know. I'm looking forward to it, too. I love you. I'll see you then."

Jack hung up the phone and stood to shake hands with Bill. "Hey, Bill," he said with a smile. "What's going on at CTU?"

"Nothing exciting, thank God," Bill smiled. "How are Audrey and Jillian?"

Jack beamed and picked up a picture frame from his desk. "Here's the latest," he said as he handed it to Bill. "I can't believe how big she's getting."

Bill looked at the picture of the blond, blue eyed baby girl in the arms of her smiling mother. "She's a doll. How old is she now?"

"She'll be three months old tomorrow," Jack replied finding himself unable to stop smiling whenever he talked about his baby daughter.

"Audrey looks great. Is she coming back to work soon?" Bill asked.

"I don't think so. She'll probably stay on as a consultant, but with the baby and writing her book, she doesn't really need another full time job."

Although it had taken them several years, two forced separations and more than one national emergency to make it happen, Jack and Audrey were finally together and living the fairy tale they had both dreamed of. Jack worked at Division managing new recruits to field ops. He was responsible for training them and placing them into the federal agencies that needed them. It was a perfect fit. Jack's experience made him a great resource for the recruits to learn from. At the same time, his 20 months in captivity had taught him a patience and compassion necessary for his role as teacher.

He and Audrey had married just a few weeks after he rescued her from the Chinese. Everyone was skeptical at the time. The two were just starting therapy and no one thought that either of them was in the state of mind to make the decision to marry. Friends and family urged them to wait. Stubborn to the end, Jack and Audrey ignored the advice and married anyway. To everyone's relief, it had worked. A few months and countless hours of therapy later, Audrey was ready to go back to work. She took a job with Division as a liaison to the DoD. It was about a year after that that Jack and Audrey welcomed their first child, Jillian Heller Bauer.

Early in their therapy, a therapist suggested to Jack and Audrey that they both write down thoughts and memories from their days in captivity as a means of helping them to deal with the experience. They had written independently, but at some point each allowed the other to read their journal. Audrey was struck by both the differences and similarities of their feelings and emotions while in captivity and decided that it would make a wonderful book. The two of them had received some national attention following Jack's stellar performance during the most recent terrorist attack. The press had picked up the story of his kidnapping by the Chinese and Audrey's attempt to negotiate his release that resulted in her own abduction. They had gotten a lot of positive feedback following that coverage. So when Audrey approached a publishing group about writing a book based upon their experiences, they were very interested. She spent a little time working on the book prior to Jillian's birth, but with time off for maternity leave, she was able to devote time to writing.

Jack had his own pet project: trying to rebuild his relationship with Kim. He had been incredibly patient. For the first several months, Kim would barely talk to him, but he never gave up. After more than a year of persistence, Kim finally let Jack slowly back into her life. They had dinner together about once a month, but always at a "neutral location" like a restaurant, never in either of their homes. Kim had stopped by the hospital after Jillian was born to meet her half-sister. A few days later she came by their home with a present for the baby and told Audrey that she would love to baby sit sometime when she and Jack were ready to go out for an evening alone. It was progress and Jack was thrilled.

Jack sat down at his desk and indicated for Bill to do the same. "What brings you over to the dark side?" he joked, laughing at his reference to Division.

"Personnel meeting," Bill replied. "I just got CTU approved for two new positions in field ops. I hear you've got a class of twelve recruits. Would any of them fit at CTU?"

Jack nodded. "I've got two guys in my current class that I had in mind for you as soon as you had openings, so now I guess they'll be yours. Jim Holden is a former Marine sniper and was on the LAPD SWAT team. This guy is ready to go. He's clearly a leader. You and Doyle will both work well with him. The other guy, Jarrod Keller, has no real experience. He's got two degrees in criminology. After his master's degree he signed on with the CIA. He got the standard training at Quantico and showed an aptitude for field ops. They sent him for additional weapons and explosives training and then survival training. He aced all of it, so they sent him here for field ops training. He doesn't have experience, but he's a natural. He's got an instinct that I don't think I've ever seen before. I used to think that Chase Edmunds had good instincts for someone with limited experience, but Chase can't hold a candle to Jarrod."

"Sounds great. When do I meet them?"

"Don't get too anxious. It's still early in training. The sixteen week training class just started two weeks ago. There's plenty of time for you to meet them over the next couple of months."

Bill looked at his watch and stood. "I'll be looking forward to it. In the meantime, I guess we'll just have to work a little short. Any chance you can reassign someone to us in the interim?"

"I'll look into it and get back to you," Jack agreed. The two shook hands and Bill left to return to CTU.

Training of the recruits continued and Jack was encouraged by their progress. He continued to groom Jim and Jarrod for positions with CTU, while watching the other ten for skills that indicated the perfect positions for them as well.

About a week later, Jack was in the middle of his usual Friday routine. He used Friday afternoon to have individual meetings with his recruits. They reviewed what was going well and what needed improvement. He was finishing up with Jarrod Keller, his last meeting of the day.

"Overall, I think your progress is excellent. If there's one area I'd like to see improvement in it would be marksmanship. Your choice of weapons is good, but accuracy is less than I'd like. Try and put in a couple of extra hours at the firing range once or twice a week and I think that should take care of it. If you're still having problems, a friend of mine is the arms instructor at LAPD. I'll put you in touch with him." The phone rang and interrupted Jack. He glanced at the caller ID and saw that the security desk was calling. "Excuse me, Jarrod," he said before picking up the phone.

"Agent Bauer, this is Davis in security. I have a Marilyn Bauer at the entrance asking to speak with you. What would you like me to tell her?"

Jack was surprised by the request. "Do you know why she's here?" he asked.

"No, sir. She said that it's important and that she can't talk to anyone but you."

Jack couldn't imagine why Marilyn had turned up at Division. With Graem dead, Marilyn didn't make any secret of the fact that she wanted Jack in her life. For the first few weeks after his return from China, Marilyn was on the phone for him on a daily basis. She tried to act the concerned relative, but it was clear to Jack that Marilyn had an agenda. Jack had rejected her as gently as possible, but that didn't necessarily mean that she took it well. She was particularly unhappy when Jack announced that he and Audrey were getting married. Since that time, Jack had only rarely heard from Marilyn. And when he did, it usually had something to do with BXJ. With Graem dead and Philip nowhere to be found, the day to day management fell to Jack and Marilyn. Neither of them cared to run the company and had hired a CEO to do that. They both maintained positions on the board of directors and had a clear say in the direction that the company was taking.

Jack sighed. "Then have someone bring her up. Thank you, Officer," Jack said as he hung up the phone. He quickly cleared any classified documents from his desk and closed the open programs on his computer. "Okay, Jarrod. I think we've covered everything. I have someone who needs to meet with me. Unless you have any questions, you can go home for the weekend."

"Sounds good to me, Agent Bauer. Have a nice weekend. I'll see you Monday," the young man said and then turned to leave the office.

Jarrod had just opened the glass door to Jack's office as the security officer led Marilyn in. "Aunt Marilyn?" Jarrod said, the surprise in his voice was evident. "What are you doing here?" The tall recruit leaned over to hug the much smaller woman.

Jack watched the interaction with more than a little interest. "Aunt Marilyn?" Jack asked. "I didn't know you two were related."

"We're not really related," Marilyn explained. "Jarrod's mother and I have been close friends for years. We've worked on several charity events together. When Jarrod was little he started calling me Aunt Marilyn and the name stuck."

Jarrod was obviously surprised that Jack and Marilyn knew each other, as well. He looked back and forth between the two of them and shook his head. "I knew you two had the same last name, but it never occurred to me that you were related."

Marilyn nodded. "Graem and Jack were brothers," she said. "Now we're both on the board at BXJ and you know how it is," Marilyn said airily. "Sometimes there are problems that get dumped in our laps."

"Well, I'll let you two work out the company problems," Jarrod said. "Good to see you. I'll tell my mom that I ran into you."

"Send her my best," Marilyn said cheerily as Jarrod walked away.

They both watched as Jarrod left. He was out of earshot before Jack spoke. "This is a surprise, Marilyn. What kind of company problem brings you to Division?" he asked as he offered her a chair in front of his desk. He crossed around the desk and sat down.

"This has nothing to do with BXJ, Jack," Marilyn confessed. "It has to do with Jarrod."

"With Jarrod? Why would you be here about Jarrod?"

"I told you, his mother is one of my best friends. She wasn't happy when Jarrod was recruited by the CIA, but she was willing to live with it if it made him happy. Then he announced that he had been accepted into the field operations program and that he was hoping to work at CTU. Well, I don't have to tell you, Jack, just how dangerous that is. His parents are just terrified. He's their only child. They adopted him as a newborn and the thought that he might get hurt or worse in this job is just tearing them apart."

"So what are you saying, Marilyn? Do you want me to talk to his parents and make them feel better?" Jack asked sarcastically.

"Don't insult me, Jack. I'm here because one of my best friends is in need. You can't let Jarrod finish the program."

Jack squinted as if trying to understand. "You're asking me to throw one of my most promising recruits out of the program?"

"Exactly."

"I can't do that, Marilyn."

"You're the program director. You're the only one who can do it. Jack, Jarrod worships the ground you walk on. His mother says that every time she talks to him, he tells her how much you've taught him and what a great mentor that you are. If you tell him that field operations isn't right for him and that you think he should pursue another avenue, he'll do it."

"Why would I tell him that? It would be a lie. He's a natural at field operations. It's like he was born to do it."

"Please, Jack," Marilyn begged. "I'm asking you as a friend. I know we've had our differences, but I'm hoping you can see this my way. His parents are terrified of losing him to such a dangerous job."

"I understand that. I'm a parent, too, Marilyn. I know when Kim had to go out in the field one time, I didn't like it. I would have done anything possible to stop it, but the fact of the matter was that Kim was trained to do the job, she wanted to do the job and she was the only person at that moment who was qualified to do it. I didn't like it, but I sucked it up and let her do her job. Jarrod is an adult. He's made a decision. He wants to work in field ops and eventually get into covert operations. His parents have to respect that decision. I'm not going to say they have to like it. I'll admit that if I were his father, I'd prefer that he chose another line of work."

"The truth is that you are his father, Jack!" Marilyn blurted out. "You _are_ his father."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Marilyn broke down and began to cry. "Jarrod is our son, Jack. When you broke up with me and joined the Army, I didn't know that I was pregnant. I was 17 and devastated that you left the way you did. It was almost three months before I realized that I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a period. I was scared to death. I bought a home pregnancy test and it was positive. I didn't know what to do," she continued. "So I broke down and told my mother. She took me to a doctor who confirmed that I was pregnant."

Jack looked past Marilyn through the glass door to his office. Jarrod stood talking to Jack's secretary. He searched the young man's face, his movements and his mannerisms, anything that might confirm what Marilyn was telling him. He listened numbly while she continued; his brain desperately trying to process the news.

Marilyn had calmed down and was now relating the story more rationally. "My parents were furious. My father kept saying 'Your rich boyfriend better plan on doing the right thing. He's going to take care of you.' So he called your father and told him. Philip came over that evening. He was so calm and so full of assurances. He told my parents that since you were away doing survival training that he would take care of everything. You know what he was like. From the minute he walked into the house he took over. He just had that presence. I felt like everything would be alright as long as Philip was there. I had no idea how really malicious he could be. He seemed so genuine. He knew that I was planning to go to college in San Francisco. So he found a home for teenage mothers in the city. I could tell everyone that I was leaving for college in September when I was really going to this home to hide for the next few months." Marilyn stopped and shook her head. "Now it all seems so stupid, but then… I was young and scared and I thought Philip and my parents knew what was best for me."

"So you had the baby in San Francisco," Jack said quietly.

Marilyn nodded. "I left for San Francisco at the end of August when I was just starting to show. Jarrod was born in December. The whole time I thought I was at this home to learn how to be a good mother. They taught all kinds of parenting skills and they provided day care once the baby was born. I assumed that after the baby was born, I'd continue to live there. The baby would stay in day care while I went to college. I'd be there to take care of him in the evening and on the weekends. Then I went into labor. I called my parents so they could come up and be with me. An official from the school was with me in the delivery room. I was in labor for 12 hours. There was plenty of time for my parents to get there, but they never did. That night I held Jarrod and I was so proud of him. I couldn't wait for you to see him because I just knew that you would love him and that you'd come home to us.

"I held him for a long time before a nurse came to my room and said that she needed to take the baby to the nursery so I could get some sleep. Then she gave me a drug to help me sleep. She said it was routine. I slept for almost 15 hours. When I woke up your father was sitting next to my bed. I asked him if he saw his grandson and he said no and that he never wanted to see the child. He said that it was best for the baby that he never knew who his real family was. That was when he told me that a couple who really wanted a baby had taken him and that they would be good parents to him since you and I were too young to be good parents. I thought I was dreaming. I got out of bed and ran to the nursery. Jarrod was gone and none of the nurses would look at me. I just stood there looking through the window at the babies and I cried. Our baby was gone and I was powerless to do anything about it."

"How did you ever find out who adopted Jarrod?" Jack asked.

"I found out completely by accident. It was several years later after Graem and I got married. We were at your father's house for a holiday and I was using the phone in his study. I needed to write down a phone number and I reached into the desk drawer to find paper and a pen. After I hung up, I opened the drawer again to put the paper and pen away. There was a manila folder lying in the bottom of the drawer labeled 'Watson and Tyler.' You've probably never heard of them, but they're a legal firm that specializes in private adoptions. I probably wouldn't have known the name either except that for the first couple of years after Jarrod was born, I did some digging to try and find out who had adopted him. When I talked to several adoption agencies, they all said that if you had the money and wanted a very quiet, private adoption that Watson and Tyler was the firm you wanted to work with. They said that even at that time it would have cost about $25,000. I knew that Philip would have paid top dollar to keep this all quiet, so I suspected for years that Watson and Tyler was the firm he worked with. When I saw the folder in his desk, I opened it. There was a bunch of paperwork in it and there were profiles of several couples. The last one I came to was a couple named Patrick and Donna Keller. Philip had circled their name and written 'yes' on the profile. I hired a private detective to get information on them. I found out that Donna Keller was very involved in children's charities so I joined a couple of the organizations that she worked for and got to be friends with her. Pretty soon we were going out shopping together and meeting for lunch. I'd stop by her house on a regular basis and it gave me a chance to get to know Jarrod. I've watched him grow up and there were so many times that I wanted to tell you but I couldn't see the purpose in it."

"Do the Kellers know that you're Jarrod's mother?"

"No. They took wonderful care of him and they love him so much. Jarrod had a wonderful childhood. He's never had any interest in finding his birth parents. I was afraid that if I told them that Donna would pull away from me and I'd never see Jarrod again."

"Did Graem know?"

"No. Philip kept it all very quiet. Graem, like everybody else, thought I went to San Francisco that August to go to college. No one, including Graem, ever knew that I had a baby."

Jack stood and paced the office. He was still stunned.

Marilyn spoke again. "Now do you understand why I don't want Jarrod doing this job? I've watched you for the last 20 years, Jack. I've seen what this job did to you. I don't want that life for our son. Do you?"

"I don't know how to answer that, Marilyn. I have to process all of this before I can decide how I feel," Jack said quietly.

"Think about it, Jack. Think about whether or not you can live with the idea that your son might die in the line of duty. Or maybe worse, that he could be kidnapped by a hostile government and held hostage like you were. I think you're going to come to the same conclusion that I have." Marilyn stopped and followed Jack's line of vision. He was looking through the glass door and across the room to where Jarrod stood talking with two of his fellow recruits. "You haven't even known for five minutes that he's your son and you already love him. I can tell by the look in your eyes, Jack. It's the same way you look at Kim and the same way you look at Jilly. You love your son as much as you love either of your daughters. You need to protect him the way you would protect either of them."

Jack continued to stare at Jarrod who had apparently said good bye to the other recruits and was heading for the exit. Marilyn watched him. She saw his eyes follow Jarrod until he turned the corner and was no longer visible.

"I should go now," Marilyn said quietly.

Jack nodded and called the front desk to have Marilyn escorted out. They stood in awkward silence while they waited for the security officer to arrive. Neither said goodbye as Marilyn stepped across the threshold and out of Jack's office.

Jack finally moved, taking the several steps back to his desk. It was almost an effort. His legs felt leaden and he held the desk for support as he lowered himself into his chair. He thought he had finally gotten his life together. For once he was happy. He had a great marriage and he and Audrey loved and understood each other. He and Kim were connecting in a way that they had never done before. And Jillian! His little Jillian was the light of his life. She smiled whenever he came near and simply lit up his world. But now… Now Marilyn shows up and drops a twenty-some year old bombshell in his lap and ruins it all.

His first thought was that Marilyn must be lying. Maybe she and Jarrod's mother really were best friends and Donna Keller put Marilyn up to it. Jack found Jarrod's personnel file on his desk and flipped through the pages until he came to the section labeled "Family History". The first word answered his question: Adopted. No details were listed, but he didn't need any details. Marilyn wasn't lying. But how could it have happened?

They were young, but he had always been careful. Even at 18 Jack knew that the last thing he wanted was his girlfriend to turn up pregnant. It was then he remembered the party. His best friend Trey Higgins had a party after the senior prom at his family's beach house. Trey's older brother bought kegs of beer and everyone had gotten drunk. Jack and Marilyn snuck off to a secluded section of beach to fool around. Thinking back he suspected that both of them were too drunk to think or care about protection. The timing was right. That had to be when Marilyn got pregnant.

A ringing phone brought Jack out of his reverie.

"Bauer," he answered trying to sound like he cared who was on the other end.

"Hey," Audrey said. "I thought you were going to be home early tonight."

"I'm sorry. I was trying to catch up on evaluations for the recruits. I guess I lost track of time," he lied. "If I leave now I'll get home before Jilly gets too sleepy to be any fun."

"She took a late nap today so she should be in a good mood for a while," Audrey told him.

"Good. I'll be home as soon as I can."

"Be careful. I'll see you soon. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Jack hung up the phone and reached for his coat. He needed to pull himself together before he got home. He wasn't sure that this was a problem that he should share with Audrey. But he also knew that after hours and hours of therapy together, Audrey knew him better than anyone ever had and it was difficult for him to keep a secret from her. At a minimum, he was going to have to say that he had a bad day at work. She generally didn't ask a lot of work related questions and he hoped she would be willing to leave it at that. Jack sighed as he closed and locked his office door. His world had once again been turned upside down and righting it was not going to be a simple task.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Jack opened his office door on Monday morning dreading the thought of facing the new week. It had been an effort to try and act normally through the weekend. He thought he had done a pretty good job. Audrey had asked him on Friday night if everything was okay and he simply shrugged and said that he was preoccupied with work. She seemed to accept that and the rest of the weekend was uneventful. But under that quiet façade, Jack's mind was constantly spinning. And as he entered his office, he was still wrestling with the decision to find a way to get Jarrod out of the field ops program or to ignore the risks to his son and allow the young man to forge ahead. He told himself repeatedly that he needed to let Jarrod make his own decisions as he himself had made his own decisions regarding his future. All of the other recruits had parents who loved them. Was it fair for him to put their sons in harm's way while protecting his own? He knew that the answer was no, but at the same time, he found a dozen ways to justify it.

After dropping off his coat and laptop in his office, Jack made his way to the firing range. Every Monday morning started there for Jack and his recruits. The twelve young men were armed and ready to go when Jack walked in. "Gentlemen," he said as a brusque greeting. "We have a busy week ahead of us. I think you're going to find that the intensity of training will go up a notch or two starting today. You've all successfully completed all of the didactic work required for this course. Now I need to see you put it into action. There are a lot of people who can pass the test on paper but I need to know if you can pass the test when the bullets start whizzing by your head. I want you to know that if you can't do that, no one here will look upon you as a failure. Not everyone is cut out to do this job and there's no disgrace in that. I would rather find that out here and now than when you are in a real life situation and your life or the lives of your team members are hanging in the balance." Jack made eye contact with each recruit to further emphasize his message. "Simulated exercises will start tomorrow. This morning you'll be asked to fire all of the weapons that we've worked with. I'm looking for a combination of speed and accuracy at various distances with the different weapons. It's going to be a long morning, but you can't use that as an excuse. You need to maintain accuracy throughout. Any questions?" Jack asked glancing up from his clipboard. "Good, then let's get started."

Jack stepped back and watched as each of the men was put through the paces. He made notes on his clipboard but otherwise said little. It was almost 11:30 when they finally finished. Jack reviewed the information on his clipboard and faced the recruits. "Okay, Holden, Cho and Miller," he started, looking at the three best marksmen. "Good work this morning. It looks like all three of you have completed weapons cleaning and assembly with Agent Evans. Is that correct?" 

Each of the men gave Jack a snappy "Yes, sir!"

"Good, then you're free to go to lunch. We'll meet again at 1300 hours in the second floor classroom." Jack paused while the three left the room and then he consulted his clipboard again. "Perez and Beckham, good job. You need to see Agent Evans for your weapons cleaning and assembly test. When you finish that, go to lunch and then meet at the classroom with the others." Without waiting this time, Jack went on. "Cohen and Baines, I'm impressed with your improvement. Both of you have raised your scores significantly since last week. Good work and keep practicing. See Agent Evans to schedule your weapons cleaning and assembly test later this week. I'll see you after lunch."

Jack stopped at that point and looked at the remaining five recruits. Four of them, Winters, Maggio, O'Malley and Stronski, clearly weren't happy, but neither were they surprised, to still be standing in front of their instructor. Marksmanship had not been the strong suit of any of the four. They all knew that they were coming down to the wire and needed to improve their skills soon or they would be cut from the program. Jarrod Keller, on the other hand, couldn't hide the surprise on his face. Through the first weeks of the course he hadn't been among the top marksmen, but he has always been above Cohen and Baines. The hurt on his face of obvious and it cut through Jack like a knife.

Jack ignored the hurt as he addressed the five recruits. "Gentlemen, I expect to see significant improvement from the five of you by next Monday. You will need to schedule firing range time both before and after our training sessions for the rest of the week. I've already talked to Agent Hall, the arms instructor. He will make himself available to all of you this week for additional instruction." Jack stopped and looked at his watch. "You have an hour and a half before we meet for our afternoon session. I suggest you use the time wisely." With that Jack turned and started to walk away. Keller followed him.

"Agent Bauer," he called in a tentative voice that sounded very out of character.

"Yes, Keller," Jack said forcing himself to sound emotionless.

"Could I have a moment with you?"

Jack again looked at his watch as if he had someplace that he had to be. He nodded and stepped into an empty lounge nearby. Keller waited until the door was closed before he spoke. "I'm confused, sir," Keller started. "We spoke on Friday and you didn't give me any indication that my marksmanship scores were this bad. You told me to get in some extra practice, but you never said that I was in danger of failing the course. Has something changed?"

"Your scores this morning were worse than usual," Jack said making sure not to be too specific.

"With all due respect, sir, my scores were higher than any of the other four recruits that you singled out and only slightly lower than Baines."

"You're right," Jack agreed. "You were higher than those four," he angled his head to indicate the four recruits who were still at the firing range. "As far as Baines goes, he has made significant improvement over last week that I didn't see from you. He started out below you coming in this morning and he surpassed you by the end of the session. What I'm telling you Keller," Jack said a little more sharply than he really intended. "Is that you have to work harder. What I'm _not_ seeing from you is the effort required to be really good at this job. And make no mistake about it, agents who aren't really good at this job don't live to tell about it. So I suggest that you stop wasting time and get out there for some more practice."

Jack looked into Jarrod's stunned, hurt eyes and saw anger rise in them. _You are your father's son_, Jack thought. It was exactly the reaction that he would have had in the same circumstance. Unfortunately, it wasn't the reaction that he wanted. Jack had hoped that the episode would start to break Jarrod's spirit and make him rethink a career in field ops. Instead, it angered him and gave him the determination to show Jack what he could do.

Jack walked away, his emotions mixed. He was both sad that he had hurt his son and upset that he had miscalculated Jarrod's possible reaction. Jack was busy mentally beating himself up over his error when he saw Bill Buchanan and Mike Doyle walking down the hall toward him. They had a standing meeting with the director of Division on the first Monday of the month to assess terror risks.

"Did we miss target practice?" Doyle asked.

"Just finished," Jack told him.

"Damn!" Doyle exclaimed. "Bill told me that you had two recruits for us and I wanted to see them in action."

"Let's not jump the gun," Jack cautioned. "They still have some training left to go. Things can change."

"You told me that you had two recruits that were perfect for CTU," Bill reminded him.

"I'll get you two recruits, Bill, don't worry. After thinking it over, I'm just not sure that both of those men are best suited to CTU. Holden is still a go. I think he's a perfect fit. Keller may not be the man you're looking for. I'm watching two other guys right now that I think could work out better."

Bill shrugged lightly. "You're the course instructor, Jack. I'll take your word on it. You were just so high on Keller the last time we talked that I'm surprised that you've changed your mind."

"To be honest, I'm not happy with Keller's progress. He's got raw talent; I'm just not sure that he can figure out how to channel it."

Doyle spoke up, "I'll get a chance to assess the recruits later this week. You have one of my teams scheduled to help with simulated hostage scenarios. I'm planning to come over with them."

"You don't trust me, Mike?" Jack asked in a slightly insulted tone. "I thought you had more important things to do than play war with a bunch of recruits."

"Of course I trust you, Jack. I don't have to come over if you don't want me to. This is the first time CTU has added new personnel at the recruit level in a couple of years. I just wanted to take a look at them and see how I thought they would fit into my group. If you don't want me here, I'll stay at CTU."

Jack's tone softened a bit. "I didn't mean for it to come off that way, Mike. I'm sorry. You're welcome to join your team. I'm a little on edge this morning. Range practice was more intense than I expected. I need to eat some lunch and calm down. I'll see you on Wednesday," he told Doyle. Then he shook hands with both Doyle and Buchanan and continued on to his office.

By 1 o'clock Jack had calmed down and was ready to meet the recruits in the classroom. Their objective for the afternoon was to discuss hostage situations and get ready for the practice scenarios later in the week. He watched Jarrod carefully throughout the afternoon. The young man's anger was just barely hidden below the surface and his determination was clear. When Jack left to go home that evening, Jarrod was the only one of the recruits still at the firing range and when he came in the next morning, he found that Jarrod had been the first to arrive.

The recruits were particularly animated when they arrived for training on Wednesday morning. They were finally getting to practice what they had learned. Doyle's elite hostage rescue team from CTU hat set up two hostage scenarios. They would be the hostiles and the recruits, dressed in full field agent gear would act as the rescue team. They were divided into two teams of six men each. Keller was in the second group. He and his fellow team members sat on benches with Mike Doyle to watch and critique the other team. Jack and Mike had flipped a coin to decide which of them would be the hostage. Jack lost, so he was the hostage for the first scenario.

Despite their strong effort, team one failed miserably. Even with Holden, a former LAPD SWAT team member in the lead, only two hostiles ended up "dead." The remaining hostiles were able to "kill" four team members and "seriously wound" the other two before "killing" the hostage and escaping. Through it all Jack sat silently as the hostage handcuffed to a chair scarcely able to keep from laughing. He would occasionally glance at Doyle only to see him biting his own lip to maintain control. Neither was angry or upset. They knew that this was how the recruits would learn and were, in fact, impressed at the teamwork that the recruits remonstrated. The rest of the morning was spent reviewing the film of the exercise to determine where the rescue team had gone wrong. Jack and Mike kept it light, but at the same time, made sure that the recruits understood how serious their training was.

After lunch team two was given a different but similar scenario. This time Doyle was the hostage and Jack sat on the bench with team one. As expected, after having reviewed all of team ones mistakes, team two had an easier time of it. They "killed" three hostiles. Four team members were "killed" and in the end Jarrod rescued the hostage. Team one cheered and hooted from the bench as Jarrod and the other "live" team member, Cho, came off of the simulation set with their rescued hostage alive and unhurt. Doyle and all of his team joined in impressed with team two's relative success. Jack, alone, stood silently in front of the observation bench. Jarrod, along with the rest of team two, had a smile on his face as he approached the bench where his fellow recruits were quick to offer high fives and congratulations all around.

"Keller!" Jack called out in an angry voice. "You want to tell me what the hell you were doing back there? You put yourself in an exposed position that could have gotten you killed."

"I rescued the hostage, sir. That was the objective," Keller answered defensively. The easy smile that he wore only seconds earlier was now replaced by a look of surprise similar to the one he had two days earlier when his marksmanship had come into question.

"You can't rescue the hostage if you're dead! You took an unnecessary risk."

"With all due respect, sir, I don't think that I did. It was the only chance we had to rescue the hostage, so I took it. It was a calculated risk. Yes, I could have been shot in the process, but we were backed into a corner. In this case I don't think I had any other choice but to take that chance. Cho and I were able to confuse the hostiles with our fire. Then Cho covered me while I rescued the hostage."

Jack ignored Jarrod's defense. "This isn't a game, Keller. You don't take chances or calculated risks unless you want to be sent back to your parents in a body bag. If you take those same chances when the bullets are real, I won't be able to guarantee your safety. Everybody take a half hour break. We'll meet back here at 1530 to review the film," Jack said as he stormed out of the simulation building and across the parking lot toward Division's main building. Doyle followed him out.

"Jack," Doyle called. Jack didn't respond except to pick up his pace. Doyle broke into an easy trot to catch up. "Calm down, Jack. What was that about?"

"I don't train these guys so they can take stupid risks and end up dead, Mike," Jack said without breaking stride. "They need to learn that."

"I didn't think it was a stupid risk. I thought Keller made a pretty well thought out move there. I'll admit that it was risky and I would hope with practice and instruction that he wouldn't do it in the future, but for his level of training, I think the guy has a lot of potential. His thought process is excellent. I'm not sure berating him in front of his classmates is the best way to get through to him."

Jack stopped abruptly and turned to face Doyle. "The last time I looked, Mike, it said 'Director of Field Operations' above your office door and 'Director of Recruiting, Training and Placement' above mine. If you think you can do my job better than I can, just say so. Maybe the powers that be will agree and give you the job. Then you can see what it's like to train a bunch of naïve kids for a job that can get them killed. Until you get my title, I'd like you to stay out of my business." Jack stared at Doyle for a second for emphasis before he continued back to his office.

Doyle persisted. "You know what your problem is, Jack?"

"No, Mike," Jack said stopping and staring Doyle down. "Why don't you tell me."

"You can't stand to be shown up."

"What are you talking about? I wasn't shown up."

"Yes, you were. You set up a nearly impossible scenario which was supposed to result in failure. Then Keller steps up and takes a risk and succeeds. He rescues the hostage and you think that he made you look bad. So you yell at him like he's a ten year old for taking a risk. Well let me tell you something, Jack. I've seen you take risks that no one in his right mind would take. I've seen you put your ass on the line when you should have waited and called for back up. I was there when you were going to kill yourself with C4 just to make sure that Audrey was safe and that Cheng was dead. You have no right to yell at that kid for taking unnecessary risks considering your own record!"

Jack stood still for a moment, his face red with anger. "Are you finished with your two-bit psychological assessment, Agent Doyle?"

Mike didn't answer. "What's your problem, Jack? Why don't you like Keller?"

"What do you mean? Why would you think that I don't like him? I'm not here to either like or dislike these men. I'm here to make field agents out of them. Whether I like them or not is immaterial," Jack asked incredulously.

"It's obvious that you don't like him. Why don't you like Keller? What did he do to make you so angry? There were other guys out there today who made worse mistakes than Keller and yet you singled Keller out and made a fool of him. What do you have against him?"

Jack looked away, unable to answer at first. "I don't have anything against him. I just think he can be impetuous at times and I'd like to break that before he gets out into the field and that impetuous streak gets him killed."

"That same impetuous streak has served you well, Jack. If you want more of my two-bit psychological analysis, I think the reason that you don't like him is that he reminds you of yourself."

"What? What would make you say that?" Jack could feel his stomach begin to churn. The thought that somehow this secret could have gotten out terrified him.

"He reminds me of you, Jack. The way he thinks and the way he moves, he's a lot like you. I think you see it and subconsciously you don't like it."

"You're crazy, Mike. Keller doesn't look anything like me," Jack said. The statement was true enough. Keller was taller than Jack and his hair was dark. He really didn't look like either Jack or Marilyn, but after looking at him carefully, Jack could see a strong resemblance to Marilyn's older brother.

"I didn't say that Keller looked like you, Jack. I said that he acts like you and thinks like you. If he's half as good an agent as you, he'll be among the best. But you're going to scare him off. Give the kid a chance, Jack. He wants this job and I want him at CTU. So do us all a favor and lighten up."

Jack looked around self-consciously not wanting to meet Doyle's gaze. "I'll try," he said quietly as he turned into the corridor that led to his office.

The rest of the week brought more of the same. The patient instructor that the recruits had come to know for the first few weeks of training had turned into an ill-tempered tiger who would growl and bite at the slightest provocation especially where Keller was concerned. At home, Jack was moody and quiet. He picked up Jillian every chance he got as if trying to make up for never having the chance to hold his now grown up son.

Jack found the weekend to be a much needed diversion. He was particularly looking forward to Saturday afternoon. Audrey had planned to go out for lunch and shopping with some friends while he stayed home with Jillian. The baby had just finished her bottle when the doorbell rang.

Jack stood to go to the door and at the same time lifted Jillian up to his shoulder. He patted her back and praised her as she burped. "That's daddy's girl," he told her. "Let's see who's at the door." Jack passed by a window on his way to the door and recognized his mother's car in the driveway. "Mom," he said with a smile as he opened the door. "What are you doing here? Come on in," he welcomed her with a hug and a kiss.

"I was in the neighborhood and I thought I'd stop and see Jilly," Rachel Bauer Stevens said as she took Jillian from Jack's arms.

Rachel and Philip Bauer had been divorced most of Jack's life. Rachel was young and impressionable when she met the up and coming businessman. Philip had been so charming at first. He was already making a lot of money and he showered her with gifts. Like most college girls, Rachel enjoyed the attention. She dropped out of school to marry Bauer, who promised to always take care of her. They quickly had two sons, first Graem and then Jack, but soon after that the marriage started to sour. Philip was happy to have two male heirs and beyond that he had no need to keep Rachel around. He never laid a hand on her but the emotional abuse was in many ways far worse. On top of that, he cheated on her relentlessly and made no attempt to hide it; friends, neighbors, family all openly spoke of Philip's infidelity. Jack was seven when Rachel finally found the courage to leave. Still somewhat naïve, she hadn't counted on was how really vindictive Philip could be. The divorce turned ugly. Philip had the money to hire the best divorce lawyers in the country while Rachel's parents took out a second mortgage on their home just to pay for a lawyer who didn't have the experience necessary to counter Philip's team. In the end, despite a bevy of character witnesses who could attest to Philip's philandering and emotional abuse, Philip's high priced lawyers painted an image of Rachel as a weak, mentally ill woman who had used Philip Bauer for his money. They contended that she was so mentally unhinged that she was a risk to kidnap Graem and Jack and potentially do them harm. In the end, Rachel's lawyer was simply no match for Philip's and the result was no alimony and only rare, supervised visits with her children.

Rachel was devastated. She loved her sons and would have put up with Philip's abuse had she just realized that she would lose her children in the divorce. She never failed to show up for a supervised visit, but all of the time the boys spent with Philip gave him more than enough chance to poison their minds against their mother. Within a few years, both boys were convinced that their mother was some kind of ogre and they would refuse to see her when she arrived for visits. No amount of pleading by the distraught woman would make them agree to see her.

Rachel eventually remarried and had two more children. By then she had given up trying to see Jack and Graem but continued to hope that someday they would understand what their father had done and would reconcile with her. In the meantime, she never forgot a birthday or holiday, sending a card and letter and a small gift. It wasn't until shortly after Jack and Teri were married and Kim was born that Jack made his first attempt to see his mother. The reunion was more fulfilling than Rachel could have ever hoped for and Jack and Rachel had been close ever since.

As always, Jack was happy to see his mother at the door, but he was also somewhat suspicious of her motives. "So you were just in the neighborhood," he said in a questioning tone. Rachel didn't live close to Jack and Audrey and had little reason to "be in the neighborhood" unless it had been planned ahead of time.

Rachel didn't bother to play the game. She knew that she had been caught. She smiled at Jilly. "Okay, your daddy caught me. I never have been a very good liar," she said as she looked up at Jack.

He couldn't help notice how really beautiful she was. She had aged gracefully and looked years younger than she actually was. If anything added to her age, it was her snow white hair which she kept cut short in an up to date style. Her clothing was fashionable, but more importantly, fit her small frame perfectly emphasizing the fact that she was still in shape and exercised regularly.

"Audrey called me. She's worried about you, Jack. She said you've been acting strangely and she was hoping that whatever was wrong, you might talk to me about it, because you're certainly not talking to her."

Jack hung his head. "It's work related, Mom, and it's complicated. You don't want to hear it."

"Try me," Rachel said patiently.

Jack got up a paced the room as he weighed his options. He needed desperately to talk to someone and his mother was the perfect person. She had been his confidant for his entire adult life. He went to her when he and Teri were having marital problems. Several years later when he and Audrey started dating during her separation from Paul, Jack talked to Rachel at length about the relationship knowing that his mother could be trusted to tell no one. Again Jack had a strong need to keep this story a secret. He, like Marilyn, had come to the conclusion that it was best if Jarrod didn't know anything about his birth parents. Jarrod had made it clear that he had no interest in finding them and was simply grateful to them for having the courage to give him up to a couple who could be good parents to him. Jack knew his son was happy with the parents who had raised him and happiness was all he had ever wanted for his children, Jarrod included.

"Jack, keeping it bottled up isn't doing you any good. Whatever it is, no matter how bad it is, you have to talk to someone. You have to let someone help you or you're going to drive yourself crazy."

Jack nodded. "I know," he whispered, still not looking at her. "I'll tell you everything, but you have to give me your word that you won't ever tell anyone."

Rachel smiled and reached for Jack's hand. "I'll stay quiet as long as my silence doesn't cause irreparable harm to anyone else and as long as you haven't done anything illegal. Those have always been my rules, Jack, you know that."

Jack smiled back. "Yeah, I know. I haven't done anything illegal and the only person who stands to get hurt here is me."

"Then I'll keep quiet. Now tell me what's wrong," Rachel said in a firm but warm tone.

"You know that Marilyn and I dated when we were in high school," Jack started. "Well, we did a little more than just _dating._"

Rachel had to stifle a laugh. "Do you think that surprises me? You were raised by your father, Jack. I'm sure the man didn't exactly teach you abstinence!"

Jack laughed as well. "No, abstinence was never one of his lessons, but to give him credit, he did teach Grae and me to be careful." Jack paused and his tone became more serious. "Unfortunately, I wasn't careful enough."

Rachel stared at Jack quite obviously surprised. "Marilyn became pregnant?"

Jack sighed. "Yes. Only I didn't know about it until last week," he explained. He related the story to his mother just as Marilyn had told him.

"Marilyn's feelings for you aren't a secret, Jack. Are you sure this is the truth?"

Jack smiled wryly. "Don't think I didn't already consider that, but I don't have any reason to believe that she's lying to me. A couple of days ago another agent commented to me that Jarrod reminded him of me. He doesn't look like me, but he certainly acts like me."

Rachel sat silently for a long moment trying to sort out all of the information in her mind. "The way I see it, you've got more than one problem here."

"Tell me about it!" Jack snorted.

"I'm serious, Jack. You need to look at these problems one at a time and make decisions on them independently. First, do you plan to tell Jarrod that you are his biological father?"

Jack shook his head. "No. From what Marilyn has told me, Jarrod has no desire to find his birth parents. I think if he did, Marilyn would have come clean years ago. She's spent years watching him grow up and she'd love for him to know that she's his mother, but she feels there's no benefit to him in knowing that. She might benefit, but he won't, so she stays silent. I'm inclined to feel the same way."

"I agree. There's nothing to gain by telling Jarrod that you two are his biological parents. That's one decision made. Let's move on to the next problem."

Jack felt himself smile vaguely. Rachel had a way of doing this. She managed to take the seemingly most insurmountable problems and reduce them to their component parts in order to solve them. He suspected that this process was how she survived her tortured marriage to Philip Bauer.

"The next problem," Rachel started, "is whether or not you tell your wife about this."

"Absolutely not! Audrey has no reason to know this, Mom."

"Really? You don't think so?"

"No. We talked before about who benefits from that information and I'm not sure where it benefits Audrey to know."

"I think you're wrong. She's your wife. You aren't supposed to be keeping secrets from her, that's bad for your marriage. So there is a benefit. By telling Audrey, she knows that you're not keeping anything from her and you keep your marriage strong. You want to make sure that you two stay together to raise this little beauty," Rachel said looking down at Jillian who was now sleeping in her arms.

Jack looked down sheepishly. "I can't tell her, Mom. I feel like I've been cheating on her."

"That's ludicrous! You didn't even know Audrey when Jarrod was conceived. How could that be misconstrued as cheating on her?"

"I know, I know. It sounds stupid, but I'm afraid of how she'll react. I'm afraid that she'll feel betrayed. I'm afraid that she'll stop loving me."

"I think she feels betrayed because you won't tell her the truth. You underestimate her, Jack and you underestimate how much she loves you. This is the woman who defied everyone and went to China to negotiate your release because she loves you. That love nearly cost Audrey her life. She didn't stop loving you when she was held hostage by the Chinese. When Audrey came home from China emotionally shut down, you were the only person who could get through to her."

Rachel didn't need to remind Jack of that fact. Two days after demanding a restraining order against Jack to keep him away from Audrey, Jim Heller was on the phone begging Jack's forgiveness and asking him to come to the hospital and see Audrey. She had cried nearly nonstop for those two days while endlessly repeating Jack's name. Heller finally relented and allowed Jack to see Audrey only after the doctor angrily told him that he was doing Audrey more harm than good by keeping Jack away and that hospital lawyers were ready to challenge the restraining order in court.

Rachel continued, "She's loved you through far worse than this. You need to rethink that decision, Jack. Yes, Audrey's going to be shocked when she finds out, just like I was and just like you were, but she's not going to stop loving you. You need to tell her the truth."

"I'll think about it," Jack conceded.

"Fair enough," Rachel agreed. "That takes care of two problems. The last problem is what you do about Jarrod's future in field operations."

"I think I've made a decision on that," Jack said softly. He stood and began to pace the room.

"You might have made a decision, but you're not happy with whatever it is," Rachel noted.

Jack turned to face her and gave her a confused look. "And how would you know that?"

"It's simple, Jack. I know you. You're a decisive person and when you tell someone what your decision is, you say it in a clear voice and you look them in the eye. You just told me that you made a decision and I could barely hear your voice. Then you got up and started pacing without ever looking at me. You aren't sure about this decision, are you?"

"Yes, I am sure about it," Jack said firmly while he forced himself to look his mother in the eye.

"Then tell me what it is."

"I'm going to talk to Jarrod on Monday and tell him that he would be better off as an analyst and a management trainee. He's got the skills to be an analyst and the personality to eventually get into management. I'll send him to CTU to train with some of their analysts and he can train with Bill Buchanan for management. That way he still gets to go to CTU and he'll be in a safer position. By the time he left on Friday, I had made his life so miserable that I'm sure he'll agree with that."

"And you're proud of that?"

"Of what? My decision?"

"No, of making your son's life miserable."

Jack stopped pacing and stared at the floor. "Let me put Jillian in her crib," he said changing the subject. "She gets heavy when you hold her for a long time."

Rachel kissed the baby gently and let Jack take Jillian from her arms. He cradled her tenderly in his own strong arms and walked up the stairs to the nursery. It was several minutes before he returned.

"The answer to your question," he said softly as he re-entered the room, "is no. I'm not proud of what I did, but if it saved Jarrod's life, it was worth it."

"Are you sure of that?"

"Yes," Jack answered. "I'm sure."

"And you can live with that decision?"

"Yes, I can live with it."

"I don't think you can, Jack," his mother told him honestly.

"When did you turn into a psychoanalyst?" Jack asked in an exasperated tone. "First Mike Doyle analyses me and now you do it. I've been analyzed more than enough by professionals," he noted referring to the months of therapy he and Audrey had needed following their return from China. "I really don't need my mother analyzing me. What I need from you is what I try to give my own children and that's unconditional love!"

"Don't be a hypocrite, Jack!" Rachel retorted. "Don't talk to me about unconditional love when you are preventing your son from following his dream. You sit there and tell me that you love your children regardless of what they do and then you turn around and orchestrate Jarrod's future so it suits you. That's not my definition of unconditional love."

"And what would you have me do? Do you expect me to help him into a career that could get him killed?" Jack shot back. "You have no right to ask that of me."

"Really? I think I sit in a unique position to ask that of you. It's exactly what I did."

"What are you talking about?"

"When you came to me years ago and told me that you were applying for a position with LAPD, do you think I liked that idea? I had barely seen you for ten years and we were just starting to put our relationship back together. Kim was only a few weeks old and you and Teri were practically newlyweds. Do you think I wanted you on the LAPD getting shot at? No, Jack, I didn't. I wanted you to go to law school or to teach English or to become a journalist or anything else you could do using your English degree. I cried myself to sleep for the next two weeks, but never, not even once, did I tell you that you shouldn't become a policeman."

Jack looked shocked. "I thought you were proud of me. You came to my police academy graduation and you acted like you were happy."

"I was proud of you, Jack. I've always been proud of you and yes, I was happy. I was happy because you were happy and all I ever wanted for you or any of my children was happiness. That doesn't mean that I was happy with your decision." Rachel stopped, her voiced softened. "You know, a few years ago I lived the nightmare of every police officer's and field agent's mother. I had the CTU director come to my door and tell me that you were dead. I helped your daughter bury you."

Jack closed his eyes unable to face his mother. "I'm sorry, Mom. I've told you that a thousand times. I'm so sorry that I had to put you through that."

"I know you are. I've never blamed you for it. You did what you had to do. But what I'm trying to tell you is that I do understand what you are going through. I know what it's like to be told that your child died in the line of duty. I know what it feels like and I never want to feel that way again. I certainly don't want you to have to go through that with your own child, but at the same time, Jarrod is an adult and he's made a decision. You have no right to take his dream away from him any more than I had the right to take your dream away from you. I was devastated when I thought you were dead, but at the same time, I was so proud of you. I was so proud when Bill Buchanan told me all that you accomplished that day. I couldn't help but think of all the people that you saved and that you died doing what you loved to do and what you were best suited to do. That was enough to sustain me through the darkest days, Jack. I was never once sorry that I didn't try to talk you out of making law enforcement your career."

Jack sat silently with his elbows on his thighs and his head in his hands. Rachel watched him for a long moment.

"I think I've said enough for one day. It's time for me to go home. I hope you won't be angry with me, Jack. We've always been honest with each other and sometimes honesty isn't easy, but at my age, I don't see the point in playing games. I could tell you what you want to hear, but what sense would that make?" Jack stayed silent and unmoving. "I love you, Jack."

With that he stood and pulled his mother into a tight embrace. "I love you, too. And I'm sorry for what I've put you through over the past 25 years. I had no idea that you felt the way you did. You were always my biggest supporter."

"That's what a parent should be," Rachel said before kissing Jack goodbye.

Jack walked his mother to her car and watched her go. He smiled and shook his head. He didn't know how she did it. It was like she had some kind of sixth sense when it came to him. She hadn't raised him; his father made sure of that. But she knew him like no one else. She knew when he was hurting and what he was thinking. She could make him see every side of a problem and in doing that, the problem seemed less daunting. She was right and he knew it. As soon as Audrey came home, he would talk to her. It might not be easy, but it was the right thing to do. As for her thoughts on Jarrod, though. She was wrong, dead wrong. There was no way that he could sit idly by and allow his son to become a field agent.

Monday morning rolled around right on schedule and Jack found himself, once again, swiping his keycard to open his office door. The remainder of the weekend went better than Jack had expected. Following his mother's advice and telling Audrey about Jarrod turned out to be the right thing to do. Of course, Audrey was as surprised as everyone else to learn that Jack had fathered a child in his teens and was just learning about it now. But she was also understanding and supportive. Unlike Rachel, Audrey didn't try to convince Jack that he should allow Jarrod to continue in the field agent training. She told Jack that such a decision was his to make, as was the decision to keep secret the fact that he was the young man's father. She assured him that whatever decision he made, she would support him.

Now here he was at the start of a new week and, for the second week in a row, Jack wasn't necessarily looking forward to it. He knew the week was going to have more than its share of unpleasantness. He had two recruits, O'Malley and Winters, that simply could not make the cut. They had strengths in other areas but neither was field agent material. Jack had tried to help them in any way possible, but his final assessment of the two was that they could potentially be a liability to their fellow officers and to themselves in a tactical situation and it was Jack's job to keep that from happening. He would pull them each into his office later in the morning to talk to them. He already had his speeches prepared and was ready to point out their strengths and the departments that he would recommend that they transfer into, but no matter how nicely he would say it, it would amount to the same thing: you aren't good enough to be a field agent.

Once O'Mally and Winters were dismissed, Jack would talk to Jarrod. This was going to be a lot harder. While the other two were well aware that their performance was not up to standard, Jarrod had believed, until the previous week, that his performance was among the best in the class. Jack had spent much of the weekend trying to decide what to say to him and still hadn't. He hoped something would come to him soon. The thought weighed heavily on his mind as he opened a locked drawer to retrieve his weapons and head for the firing range. A knock on the door broke his concentration. Jack looked up and froze. Jarrod stood in front of the door, hand on the door handle and ready to enter. Involuntarily Jack raised his hand and waved Jarrod in.

"Agent Bauer," he said in a firm voice. "Good morning. I was hoping that you'd have some time to talk to me before we had to report to the firing range."

Jack nodded. "Have a seat," he said as he settled down behind his desk.

"Sir, I'm going to get right to the point. Have I done something to make you angry? Ever since last Monday, you've been on my back and I'm not sure why. If I've done something wrong I'd like to know about it so I can correct it."

Jack had been caught off guard, a feeling that he hated. He had lived by the philosophy that a good offense beat a good defense every day of the week, but suddenly found that he hadn't planned for this and his offense wasn't prepared. Now he was on the defensive and he wasn't prepared for that either. He looked down at his hands, embarrassed by his behavior. At the same time he found a pride welling in him at the mature way in which Jarrod had chosen to handle the situation. "No, Jarrod," he said softly. "You haven't done anything wrong." Jack finally looked up and looked intently into his son's face. Jarrod sat unsmiling; his jaw set firmly. Jack knew the look. Jarrod was prepared to fight. He was prepared to fight for what he wanted and, like his father he had no plans to back down. Jack steeled himself for the test of wills that was about to take place.

"If I haven't done anything wrong, why are you being so hard on me? I'd hate to think that this is personal, sir, but it's starting to look that way, not just to me, but to the other recruits. I get the impression that you don't like me."

"That's not at all true," Jack said defensively.

Jarrod continued before Jack could go on. "For whatever reason, it appears that the two of us have difficulty working together. If we can correct that, I'd like to stay here in the training program. If not, then I'm going to go to personnel today and request a transfer to the field ops training program on the east coast. They're two weeks behind us, so if the transfer is approved, I can make arrangements to pick up with that class of recruits in a couple of weeks and I won't miss any instruction time. I'm hoping that, if it comes to that, you won't oppose me, Agent Bauer. We may not be able to get along, but I hope you're willing to admit that I have the ability to be a good field agent and that you'll recommend me for the program on the east coast."

Jack needed a moment to think, so he stood up from behind his desk and began to pace in order to buy himself time. He had never considered that Jarrod might ask for a transfer. He knew if he opposed the transfer that Jarrod would file a grievance against him and get the recommendations of other instructors in the course. His entire strategy needed to change. "Tell me something, Jarrod," he started. "Why do you want to be a field agent so badly? This is a dangerous job. Agents get killed. And what may be even worse, agents are often forced to make impossible decisions; decisions that result in the deaths of innocent people or of other agents. Why do you want to do that for a living?"

"Agent Bauer. My parents keep asking me the same question. They don't want me here. They want me to find a safe job behind a desk and they don't understand why I can't do that. I understand that you can't guarantee my safety and I'm not asking you to. This job is what it is and yet it draws me to it. I understand how really important this job is. Someone has to do it. People like you and Agent Doyle put their lives on the line for me and for my family and for millions of other Americans that they don't know day after day, year after year. Now it's time for those of us who have the aptitude for the job to give back to those of you who have given for so long. You told me in my first week evaluation that I had the right tools for this job and that you were going to teach me how to use them. I trusted you to do that. I know that I can do this job and I know that I can be good at it. I'm just asking you to put aside any personal differences that we might have and give me the chance."

Jack listened to his son's words and to the conviction in his voice. In it he heard himself twenty-five years earlier arguing with his father about his decision to join the Army. It was a decision that drove a wedge between them and they never saw eye to eye again. He remembered how much it hurt when his father dismissed his goals, his dreams, as juvenile. His decisions to join the LAPD and eventually CTU all drove deeper wedges between father and son and left deeper wounds. Knowing that he created the same rift between himself and his son would be an unbearable burden to live with. Jack knew at that moment that his mother was right. He had no right to orchestrate his son's future. Jarrod was a man and he deserved to make his decisions on his own and for the right reasons. Clearly he had made the decision to be a field agent for the right reasons and Jack knew that he couldn't stand in his way.

He cleared his throat quietly in order to hide the emotion that was welling in him. "Jarrod, I knew from your first day here that you had the potential to be a really good agent. You have a natural instinct that I don't often see in a recruit. Unfortunately once I saw that, I set the bar too high. Now, when you do anything that is less than perfect, I have trouble accepting that," Jack said. It was a lie, of course, but Jarrod didn't know that and it did provide a reasonable explanation for Jack's behavior. "What happened last week shouldn't have happened. I was wrong to treat you the way I did and I need to apologize. I don't want you to transfer to the east coast. I want you to finish your training here and I promise you that there won't be any more outbursts like you saw last week. I hope that you'll accept my apology."

"Apology accepted, sir," Jarrod said. He stood and extended his hand and the two shook hands. "Thank you. At the risk of sounding like a star-struck kid, Agent Bauer, I want you to know that every recruit here knows your history and wants to be just like you. And I'm no exception. I want to have a good working relationship with you, but more than that, when I finish this course and go over to CTU, I want you to be able to say 'I trained him' and know that I will do everything in my power not to tarnish your legacy."

Jack smiled warmly at his son. "I have every confidence, Jarrod, that you will not only not tarnish my legacy, but that you will create a legacy for yourself that future recruits will want to emulate."

"Thank you for your confidence, sir. It means more to me than you can imagine," Jarrod said sincerely. "I'll see you at the firing range, sir," he said as he turned to go.

"I'll be there in a few minutes," Jack told him. "Get warmed up. I hear you've been putting in a lot of extra hours over there and I want to see the improvement."

Now Jarrod smiled. "I'd challenge you to a little one on one, sir, but I guess that's not appropriate."

"I'll take that challenge," Jack returned. "We can't do it this morning, but how about before the session tomorrow."

"Sounds great. We can meet at the range at 7 o'clock."

"It's a deal. Loser buys breakfast."

"Bring your credit card. I'm always hungry in the morning," Jarrod said laughing.

Jack's phone rang breaking up the banter between the two. Jack picked up the phone and Jarrod left the office closing the door behind him. "Bauer," Jack said into the phone.

"Jack, it's Marilyn."

"Good morning. What did you need?" he asked getting right to the point.

"I called to thank you. I talked to Donna Keller, Jarrod's mother, last night and she said that she had dinner with Jarrod on Saturday and he was so upset about how you were treating him that he had decided to quit the program. She's ecstatic and so am I. I don't know what you did, but it worked and I can't thank you enough."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Marilyn. I just talked to Jarrod and he's staying."

"Staying? What are you talking about?"

"He never had any intention of quitting. Jarrod wants this job. He's made a decision and he's going to stick by it. This isn't a whim, Marilyn. It's well thought out and as his parents I think that you and I and the Kellers have to respect that."

"I don't understand. He told Donna that he couldn't take any more of your browbeating and that he was going to leave," Marilyn said incredulously.

"He was going to leave LA, but not the program. He came to me this morning to ask for a transfer to an east coast program. It would be the same thing only someone else was going to train him and he would have been given a post somewhere on the east coast instead of here in LA. I made a decision as an instructor and as a father that I would rather have him here in LA where I can train him and be here if he needs help or advice, than to send him 3000 miles away to someone who doesn't have his best interest at heart."

"Damn you, Jack!" Marilyn cried. "I thought I could count on you to do what was best for our son."

"That's exactly what I did, Marilyn. I did what was best for Jarrod. I let him follow his dream."

"If his dream gets him killed, I'll hold you personally responsible. I will never forgive you, Jack," Marilyn assured him in a low threatening voice.

"I hope it never comes to that," Jack told her sincerely, "but if it does, I think I can live with it. I came in here this morning, Marilyn, with every intention of recommending to Jarrod that he transfer out of field ops and into information analysis and management. I agonized over that decision but it seemed like the right one to make. He wouldn't be happy, but in the long run he would learn to live with it and he would be safe. Then he came in here and we started to talk. I let him tell me why he wanted to be a field agent and after talking to him, I realized how really proud I am of him. He's a solid young man with a good head on his shoulders. I knew then that I couldn't deny him his dream. I would rather know that he died doing what he loved than that I stopped him from being a field agent and he was forced to live doing something less than what he wanted. To me, that would be the really unforgivable sin. Think about it, Marilyn. And ask Pat and Donna Keller to think about it, too. As parents, we all worry about our children. That's part of the territory, but in this case, I think we should all put our worries aside and simply be proud of Jarrod. That's all he's asking and I think we all owe that to him."

Marilyn hung up angrily without ever saying goodbye. Jack wondered if she would ever understand why he did what he did or if she would ever forgive him. Neither mattered much to him. He knew he had done what was right for Jarrod and, in the end, that was all that mattered.

_Thanks again for reading and, as usual, I'm begging shamelessly for reviews. I always seem to find that my muse goes into hiding in the summer. It looks like that might happen again this year. With season 6 almost over in the US, I don't have much story fodder to feed my muse, so she'll just spend the summer by the pool sipping pina coladas. (I wish I could do the same!) She has been teasing me with an idea for a Bill/Karen sequel to my story "Past, Present and Future" but the idea has been slow to develop. So it may be a while before I post anything new. When I do, I hope you'll all be there to read and review. Some of you have been R&Ring my stories for the last three years and I really appreciate your support. Without it I wouldn't bother to write. It's only fun when I get your feedback. So thanks again and I hope to post again in the next few months._


	3. Epilogue

_When I originally wrote this story, I never intended to write this chapter. It was suggested by Flight of Folly (Thanks a bunch, Natalie!) and I took it as a challenge. And fortunately, my muse, who planned to spend her summer at the pool drinking pina coladas, got drunk, fell asleep in the sun and got a terrible sunburn. So, she decided to come inside for a while. I'll be interested to get your reactions to the chapter. If it doesn't go over well, I'll delete it and leave the story as it was._

_A/N: This story was originally written before the season 6 finale, so it does not take into account the outcomes given to us by the writers for any of the characters._

Chapter 3

Audrey glanced at the clock on the dashboard. "Damn it!" she said having long ago picked up her husband's favorite epithet. _Of course, I'm late,_ she thought. _Jack always says that "late" is my middle name. Maybe he's right. _

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" three-year-old Jillian echoed from the back seat. She was a pretty little girl with straight blond hair and big blue eyes that were constantly full of mischief.

"Jill," Audrey admonished gently. "What has Daddy told you about saying that?"

"Mommy and Daddy say it!" Jill pointed out.

"And we shouldn't," Audrey admitted. "It's not right for grown ups to say and little girls shouldn't say it either. Okay? I'll try not to say it and so will Daddy. Do we have a deal?"

"When will we get to Nana's house?" Jillian asked quickly changing the subject to one she liked better.

"Soon, but I have to call her and tell her that we're going to be late."

"Daddy says that 'late' is your middle name," Jillian said, once again parroting a parent.

_Little pitchers certainly do have big ears,_ Audrey thought, suddenly remembering one of her father's favorite expressions. "Yes, I know what Daddy says," she said as she reached for her phone and hit the speed dial.

"Rachel," Audrey said as the phone was answered. "It's Audrey. I'm going to be a little late."

Audrey's mother-in-law chuckled softly but made no comment. "When should I expect you, dear?" she asked instead.

"About twenty minutes. I'm about to get on the 101."

"Don't get on the 101, Audrey. Didn't you hear the traffic report? There was a bad accident and traffic's backed up for miles in both directions."

"Really? I'm surprised that Jack didn't call me. He takes the 101 on his way to work and he knew I was driving over to your house. If he got caught in a back up, I would have expected him to call."

"He probably just missed it, dear. It didn't happen all that long ago, but it was a big one: a tractor trailer and four passenger cars. Two people are dead and several others are injured. So stay off the 101 and take side streets. You'll get here in about a half hour."

Audrey groaned audibly. "I just hope my bladder can hold out that long!" she said resting her hand on her swollen belly. "The baby dropped in the last couple of days and now his head is resting right on my bladder. It seems like I'm running to the bathroom every fifteen minutes. I was up four times last night." Jack and Audrey's second child, a boy, was due in less than a month.

"It'll be over in a couple of weeks," Rachel reminded her daughter-in-law sympathetically.

"This baby can't get here soon enough for me," Audrey said impatiently.

"He's got his own time schedule. He'll be out when he's good and ready. Don't try and rush it," Rachel said wisely. "I'll see you in a little while. Tell Jillian that I made sugar cookies and she's going to help me decorate them."

"She'll love it. Jill loves to bake with Nana. Thanks for taking her today, Rachel. I really have to finish getting the things I need for the baby's room and if I had to drag Jill to all of those stores, I wouldn't get anything done and she'd be miserable."

"I'm glad I can help out," Rachel said kindly. "That's what grandmothers are for. I'll see you in a little while."

Audrey set her phone down and made the next left turn.

"Mommy, are we there yet?" Jillian asked. "I wanna see Nana."

"And Nana wants to see you, too," Audrey assured her. "We'll be there soon, pumpkin."

Audrey pulled into her mother-in-law's driveway a half hour later, her bladder nearly screaming for relief. She got Jill out of the back seat as quickly as possible and headed for Rachel's porch at what only could be described as break-neck speed for a massively pregnant woman leading a three year old.

Rachel opened the front door and Audrey dropped Jillian's hand and brushed passed the older woman without even saying hello.

"Mommy has to go potty," Jillian announced.

"So I gathered," Rachel said as she helped Jill take her jacket off. "Are you ready to decorate the sugar cookies?"

"Yay!" Jill squealed as she ran toward the kitchen.

"You have to wash your hands first," Rachel reminded her. She reached behind the door and pulled out a folding step stool. Setting the stool in front of the sink, Rachel helped Jillian to climb up and turn on the water.

Audrey stepped into the kitchen just as Jillian was squirting a third glob of soap into her little hand. "Enough soap, Jill," Audrey said as she put the pump bottle out of her daughter's reach.

"Any last minute instructions?" Rachel asked.

"Nothing that I can think of. I should only be a couple of hours, Rachel. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."

"Think nothing of it. I'm happy to help," Rachel told her as she helped Jillian rinse the mountain of soap from her hands. "Enjoy your shopping."

"I will. Thank you," Audrey said. She was just about to kiss Jillian goodbye when her phone rang. Audrey reached into her bag and dug the phone from the bottom. The blocked number on the caller ID told her that it was coming from a government agency phone. "That's probably Jack calling to tell me about the traffic," she speculated. "Hi, honey," she said into the phone.

"Audrey," said a voice that didn't belong to Jack. "Audrey, it's Bill."

"Oh, Bill! I'm sorry! I thought it was Jack," Audrey laughed at her faux pas. "Just don't tell Karen or she'll be mad at me. What can I do for you?"

Bill and Karen had become close friends with Jack and Audrey. Audrey knew that Bill was planning a surprise fiftieth birthday party for Karen and assumed that he was calling to enlist her help.

"Audrey, have you heard any news this morning?"

"News? Not really, Bill. Why?"

"There was an accident on the 101 earlier today."

"I didn't hear about it, but Jack's mother warned me about it when I was on my way to her house. She said that traffic is backed up for miles in both directions."

Bill hesitated before he went on. "Audrey, are you with Jack's mother right now?"

"Yes, I am. Bill, what's going on?"

"I'm glad she's there for you. You're going to need her support," Bill said.

Audrey began to panic. "Bill, what's going on?" she asked again. "What are you not telling me? That accident on the 101, was Jack somehow involved? Is Jack alright?" Tears had already formed in her eyes and were catching on her lower eyelashes prior to making a swift decent down her cheeks. Rachel and Jillian had now both turned to look at her.

"He's alive, Audrey. They took him to USC Medical Center by helicopter. He's already in surgery."

"Oh God!" Audrey gasped as she slumped into a kitchen chair. "How bad… how badly is he hurt?"

"I don't know the extent of his injuries. Highway patrol called Division when they saw his work ID. The guys at Division called me since I know you better than they do. Frankly, Audrey, I'm getting this all second hand. I can send a car over to pick you up at Rachel's house if you like."

"No, that won't be necessary, Bill. I can make it there myself. Rachel and I will drive over together," Audrey said trying to pull herself together. "I'll call Kim, too. She can meet us there."

"Audrey, I'm sorry. If there's anything that Karen and I can do, just let me know. I know you'll need help with Jillian. We'll pick her up at the hospital a little later and keep her for you." Bill and Karen had become like another set of grandparents to Jillian. Without children of their own, both considered the little girl the granddaughter that they would never have.

"Thank you, Bill," Audrey said numbly. "I better go now." Audrey hung up the phone and stared blankly at her mother-in-law.

"He was in the accident on the 101, wasn't he?"

Audrey nodded without saying a word. "We have to get to the hospital," she said fumbling for her keys.

Rachel reached out and took the keys from her. "I'll drive. You can call Kim," she directed. Past adversity had taught Rachel Bauer Stevens how to take charge in an emergency. She guided Audrey and Jillian out of the house and into the car.

"I thought we were going to make cookies," Jillian whined not understanding why her happy plans were suddenly changed. "Mommy, why are you crying?"

The drive to the hospital seemed to take forever. Audrey called the hospital to see if they could give her any information on Jack's condition, but other than confirming that he was in surgery, there was no new information. After that she called Kim and then her father. Both said they would meet her at the hospital. After finishing her conversation with her father, Audrey slipped the phone back into her bag.

"Before you put that away, you should probably call Marilyn," Rachel suggested.

Audrey nodded. "I guess I should. Jack and I aren't that close to her, but I'd hate for her to hear it on the news. And Josh and Jack have stayed close since Graem died."

Marilyn, who was dating someone and finally seemed to have gotten over Jack's rejection of her, was genuinely upset when she received Audrey's call. "Josh has classes until noon today. As soon as he's out of class, we'll come over and sit with you," she told Audrey.

Audrey, Rachel and Jillian soon arrived at the hospital and made their way to the waiting room. Kim arrived about fifteen minutes later and Jim Heller less than a half hour after that. The wait was interminable. Twice Audrey asked the waiting room receptionist if she had any news and twice the woman told Audrey that as soon as the surgery was over the surgeon would be out to talk to her.

It was almost three hours before a tired looking, young surgeon came through the waiting room doors, spoke quietly to the receptionist and then made his way over to Audrey. "Mrs. Bauer," he said. "I'm Dr. Callahan. I'm the lead surgeon on the trauma team that is taking care of your husband."

"How is he? Is he going to be alright?" Audrey asked anxiously. She was clutching Rachel's hand so tightly that she was hurting her mother-in-law, but Rachel, as anxious and upset and Audrey, didn't seem to notice.

"He made it through the surgery and he's in both critical and unstable condition, Mrs. Bauer," Dr. Callahan said gently. He then took time to detail the extent of Jack's injuries and the corrective surgery. "Right now all I can tell you is that we are doing everything possible for him. He's very sick and I can't give you any guarantees as far as the outcome. I would love to sit here and tell you that your husband is going to be fine, Mrs. Bauer, but that would be a disservice to you and your family. He's got a number of factors in his favor. He's relatively young and very healthy. Those are important factors in his recovery. Going against him is the severity of his injuries. And there's one other problem," Dr. Callahan added. "Your husband has a rather rare blood type, Mrs. Bauer. He's B negative. Only about 2 per cent of the population of the US is B negative. That presents us with a problem. The only types of blood we can give him are B negative or O negative. B negative is very had to come by, especially now when we are in the middle of a blood shortage. We can give him O negative and he's already received three units of it, but he needs more blood and the preference is to give him B negative rather than O negative. Do you know if any blood relatives, like parents or children, have B negative blood?"

Audrey immediately looked to Rachel for an answer. Rachel shook her head. "Two years ago when I had a hip replacement, Jack tried to donate blood for me and they said that the types weren't compatible. So I don't think I'm a match. I guess the blood type ran on his father's side of the family."

Kim spoke next. "I don't know what my blood type is, but if you can check, I'd be happy to donate blood for my father."

"Good," the doctor said. "We'll take you down to the lab and have you tested. Are there any other relatives?"

"I'm Jack's nephew," Josh said. He was a 19 year old college freshman now and had grown into a tall, handsome young man. He had idolized Jack ever since Jack rescued him from his grandfather. "My father and Jack were brothers. Could I have the same blood type?"

"It's possible. I can take you down to the lab, too. Is there anyone else? Any other children or siblings?" Callahan asked. "I'd really like to have several units of blood on hand."

Audrey shook her head. "It's a small family, Doctor. Jack's father and only brother are both dead. Jack and I have one child but she's only three," Audrey told him as she pointed to Jillian who had fallen asleep in Kim's arms.

"Alright, for now we'll test the two of you," he said to Kim and Josh. "If you think of any other relatives, contact them and have them come in for testing."

Kim transferred Jillian to Rachel's arms without waking her and then joined Josh and the doctor for a trip to the hospital lab. At the same time, Jim Heller left to get coffee for everyone leaving Audrey alone with Rachel and Marilyn and a sleeping Jillian. The three women were silent for a moment. It was Audrey who broke the silence. "We need to call Jarrod."

"Audrey, you can't do that," Marilyn said quickly.

"He's Jack's son, Marilyn. I won't watch my husband die for lack of the right blood type when he has a perfectly healthy son who might be a match."

"Jarrod has no idea that he's Jack's son. How do you plan on explaining this to him?"

"Maybe it's time he knows the truth. He and Jack get along well. How do you think Jarrod would feel if Jack died and later he found out that he might have been able to prevent it?" Audrey asked.

"Oh, please, Audrey. One unit of blood is not going to make the difference in Jack's survival," Marilyn said skeptically. "And this isn't just about telling Jarrod. If we tell him, then Kim needs to know and so does Josh."

"This isn't your husband lying in the intensive care unit, Marilyn," Audrey said trying to keep her anger under control and her voice down to keep from waking Jillian. "We're having another baby in a couple of weeks and I'll do anything to make sure that Jack is here to enjoy his new son even if that means telling Jarrod and Kim and Josh the truth."

"If it was a sure thing, Audrey, I'd agree with you, but we have no idea what Jarrod's blood type is. Please, think about it. Jarrod doesn't want to know who his birth parents are. Let's see what happens with Kim and Josh and then consider it only if it's absolutely necessary," Marilyn pleaded.

"Audrey," Rachel started. "You've worked for the government. Would they have a record of blood types in the medical records of the field agents? It would make sense. That way if they're injured in the line of duty and need blood, the information is already available."

"I don't know," Audrey said. "But I know who can find out for me."

Audrey took out her phone and started to dial, when, as if in answer to her prayers, Bill and Karen walked into the waiting room. "Bill!" Audrey exclaimed. "I was just about to call you." She stood and accepted hugs from both Bill and Karen, who then greeted Rachel and Marilyn. "There's a problem," Audrey told Bill. "Jack has a rare blood type, B negative. They're looking for family members with the same blood type to donate, but it's a small family and we're pretty limited. I was wondering if the government kept a database of the blood types of their field agents."

Bill nodded. "I don't know, Audrey. Let me call Chloe and have her check it out."

Within minutes Bill had explained the situation to Chloe and she was looking for the information. "Bingo!" she said. "All field agents have their blood types in their medical histories. I can search by blood type for every CIA and FBI field office in the country to find agents who have type B negative blood."

"Get back to me when you have something, Chloe," Bill directed her.

Efficient as she was, it only took Chloe a few minutes to get the information. "We got lucky, Mr. Buchanan. I found agents in Denver, Chicago, New Orleans and Seattle that match. Morris is arranging to have the two in Denver and Seattle donate blood at a local facility and we'll have it flown here on a priority status. He's going to notify the agents in Chicago and New Orleans that we may need them to be on standby. Even better, we've got two agents right here in LA that are matches. One is an FBI agent named Ed Randall. I've already contacted the Special Agent in Charge of the field office and Randall is on his way to the hospital as we speak. The other local agent is Jarrod Keller. He's off today, but Doyle called him and he'll be at the hospital in about an hour. Isn't that a coincidence? He and Jack are pretty good friends. Who would have guessed that they had the same rare blood type?"

"Good work, Chloe. Thank you," Bill said as the conversation ended. He looked at Audrey. "Running the database was a good idea. We got six hits: two are local, two more are on the west coast and the other two are on standby in case we need them."

"Who are the local agents," Audrey asked nonchalantly. "I just wondered if Jack knew them."

"I doubt that he knows the FBI agent, but he trained the CTU agent. It's Jarrod Keller. Keller and the FBI agent will both be here in an hour or less."

"That's wonderful," Audrey said heaving a sigh of relief. She waited until Bill and Karen weren't looking to exchange furtive glances with Rachel and Marilyn.

The rest of the afternoon dragged on. Kim was able to donate blood to her father, but Josh wasn't a match, so Dr. Callahan was particularly pleased to find out that he had some additional donors even if they weren't all local. The units of blood from Kim, Jarrod and the FBI agent, Randall would tide Jack over for the time being. The other two units coming in from out of town would be stored and used as needed.

The next three days were a blur for Jack's family who spent endless hours waiting and praying. There didn't seem to be much improvement in his condition, but by the same token, the doctors seemed reasonably happy that he had not had any major setbacks either. It wasn't until the fourth day that Jack started to show some improvement. He started waking up and trying to communicate despite the fact that the doctors kept him on a ventilator to assist his breathing and the tube down his throat kept him from speaking. All in all, Jack's condition improved rapidly and within a week he was sitting up and breathing on his own. Audrey cried the first morning that she walked into the intensive care unit to visit and Jack smiled at her and quietly said her name.

"Oh, Jack," she sobbed as she leaned over to kiss him. "You scared us all to death," she told him as they kissed.

"I know," he whispered. "I'm sorry. I know I was in an accident, but I can't remember what happened."

"Let's not worry about that now. You just need to finish getting better so you can go home soon. You're a lot of trouble, do you know that?" she teased him. "We had people running all over the country to get blood for you."

"What are you talking about?" he asked her.

"Don't worry about it right now. I'll tell you about it later." Audrey said watching Jack's sleepy eyes start to close again.

For the next few days, Jack continued to get better. He spent large blocks of time sleeping but had started to eat small amounts and was even up and walking a few steps at a time. Audrey entered his room two weeks after the accident and found him sitting up with a plate of scrambled eggs and a bowl of oatmeal.

"How's breakfast?" Audrey asked after giving him a kiss.

"It's hospital food, so it's probably awful, but since it's the first real food I've had in two weeks, it's the best meal I've ever eaten. The nurse said if I don't have any problems with breakfast or lunch that I might get something more solid for dinner," he told Audrey. "I was hoping for a steak."

"Don't get your hopes up. You might get something more solid than oatmeal, but it probably won't be a steak," she laughed. "I like your enthusiasm, though. You need to eat. I can tell how much weight you lost," she said brushing her hand over his now hollow cheek.

Jack returned his attention to eating and Audrey sat down next to his bed letting out an involuntary sigh.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm tired. I'm not sleeping well any more. I can't find a comfortable position and last night was really bad."

Jack looked at her with concern. "Audrey, you shouldn't have come this morning if you weren't feeling well. You really need to get some rest. I don't want you over-exerting yourself. I'm fine here by myself. Kim will stop by after work and my mother will be here later this morning. Why don't you go home and get some rest."

She smiled at him. "Because I can't stand being away from you. I love you, Jack, and I almost lost you. Sitting here with you makes me feel safer."

"You have to get over that."

"I know and I'm sure that I will with time, but for right now, I feel more secure when I'm with you. Kim will stay most of the evening, so I might leave after she gets here."

Jack finished his breakfast while making small talk with Audrey. "By the way," he said as they were talking about nothing in particular. "When I first started to wake up last week, you mentioned that people were going all over the country getting blood for me. You said that you'd explain later."

Audrey nodded. "Did you know that you have a rare blood type?"

"Yeah, I'm B negative. So is Kim," he said with a shrug. "They told me that years ago when I joined the LAPD."

"Well, thanks for sharing! We had no idea." Audrey recounted the story including her disagreement with Marilyn regarding whether to tell Jarrod the truth about his parentage and how they had solved the problem by simply having Chloe run a list of potential blood donors from the government database. "And, by the way, Jarrod said that he wants to come and see you as soon as you're well enough for visitors."

"So, how much does Jarrod know?" Jack asked somberly.

"Nothing. He thinks that the blood types are a coincidence. Since Chloe pulled the blood types of all of the field agents off of the computer he has no reason to believe anything else."

"Was anyone else suspicious, like Bill or Chloe? She's pretty perceptive."

"Maybe so, but unless she's keeping her suspicions to herself, she has no idea. Everyone just thinks it's a happy little coincidence, Jack. Why should they think otherwise? Your secret is safe," Audrey assured him.

Jack seemed satisfied with that. "Tell Jarrod that he can stop by any time. I'd like to see him so I can thank him."

"I'll call him when I get home this afternoon."

Audrey's plans to call Jarrod when she got home were well intended but were soon set aside, replaced by a more pressing matter: the birth little James Heller Bauer.

It was shortly after Audrey had agreed to call Jarrod when Jack noticed that Audrey was squirming uncomfortably. "Audrey, is something wrong?" he asked.

"I just had a contraction," she explained. That was nothing new. She had been having infrequent and irregular contractions for the past several days.

"That one must have hurt," Jack noted. "Other contractions haven't seemed to bother you."

"It was worse than the ones that I've been having," Audrey admitted.

"Why don't you call you father and have him come and take you home so you can rest," Jack suggested.

"It was one contraction, Jack. Let's give it a little while and see if I have any more."

That one contraction was followed by an even stronger one about fifteen minutes later. And another followed fifteen minutes after that. By that time, Audrey conceded that she was in labor. Again Jack implored her to call her father.

"Sweetheart, call your father so you can go home and get your bag and when it's time he can take you to the hospital."

"Look around you, Jack," Audrey said gesturing to the room. "We're in a hospital."

"This isn't where you planned to deliver and your doctor isn't here."

"This is just a guess," she started sarcastically. "But I bet they have doctors here capable of delivering a baby." Jack could tell that she wanted to say more but was cut off by another strong contraction. This one only ten minutes from the one before it. "Besides," she continued when she was able. "I want you to be there when the baby is born. Maybe they'll let us arrange it so you can be with me."

It didn't take long to have it all arranged. Audrey was in the early stages of labor; ones that were usually spent at home. When labor progressed and she needed to be monitored, Audrey would go to the labor and delivery suite. The doctors would not agree to Jack going with her until she was about to deliver, so Audrey's father and Jack's mother both eagerly agreed to stay with her until it was time for her to delivery. Then Jack would be brought in so that he could be there for the birth of his son.

All went according to plan and almost eight hours later, with Jack by her side and clutching her hand, Audrey gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Blond haired and blue eyed and weighing almost nine pounds, the screaming infant was held up for his parents to see. Soon he was in Audrey's arms with both parents and grandparents hovering over him and making a fuss. By now Jay, as they had nicknamed him, was sound asleep, as exhausted from his ordeal as his mother was from hers.

All of the excitement had made both Audrey and Jack forget that they were supposed to call Jarrod, so Jack was quite surprised a few days later when Jarrod knocked quietly on his hospital room door. "Hi," he said as he leaned into the room. "Are you up for visitors?"

Jack smiled and waved him in. "Jarrod, it's good to see you!" he exclaimed as he extended his hand to shake. "Audrey meant to call you and tell you to stop by but things got a little busy around here," Jack explained as he handed Jarrod a picture of his new son.

Jarrod congratulated Jack on the baby's birth and sat down to talk.

"I understand that I owe you a great deal of thanks, Jarrod," Jack said as the conversation became more serious.

"I'm just glad I could do it, Jack. Who would have thought that we would end up having the same rare blood type? At least I know who to call if I ever need blood!" he said trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Any time," Jack replied with a smile. "I just hope you never need it."

"Yeah, me too!" Jarrod laughed.

Jack watched as Jarrod's face became serious again. "I can't explain it, but I have to tell you, Jack, getting that call that you needed blood and that I was a potential donor did something to me."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"Well, at first, I thought I was just worried because you might not make it, but it went further than that. I'm ashamed to admit this, but I'm not sure that it had anything to do with you. I think it had more to do with me."

"I'm not sure I understand, Jarrod," Jack said quietly.

"That makes two of us. I'm not sure that I understand either. I've known that I was adopted for my entire life and I never gave it much thought. I never cared about my birth parents. All I knew was that for whatever reason they gave me up, they did me a huge favor. I ended up with the two best parents anyone could hope for and I never thought that I would need more than that. But being asked to donate blood for you did something to me. It gave me a connection to another person that I've never had before. I guess it's the connection that other kids have to their parents. It's a sense of being part of a family and being like the other people in the family; inheriting blood types and hair color and eye color from someone you see every day, someone who might look like you or act like you. I wish I could explain it, Jack, but I really can't."

Jack was silent for a long moment. "Does that mean that you want to find your biological parents?"

Now it was Jarrod's turn to be silent. "I don't know what to do. My wife and I are talking about starting a family and I would like to at least have a medical history. I think I'd like to meet my birth parents but I don't know what part, if any, I want them to play in my life. And what if they don't want to meet me? My parents adopted me privately though a legal firm that specialized in making sure that birth parents and children never met. This couple went to a lot of trouble to protect their identity. I'm not so sure they want to be found. I don't know what to do and no one can give me the right answer."

If it were actually possible for a heart to break, Jack knew that his would be doing so at that moment. He hated to see his son so torn. And he was torn as well. Marilyn had a stake in this, too. As much as he wanted to tell Jarrod the truth, he wanted Marilyn to know before he did it. He didn't seek her approval; he just wanted to give her fair warning. On the other hand, Jarrod didn't seem sure that he wanted the truth, so until he decided that for himself, Jack felt it best to sit on the information.

Their conversation moved on to CTU business and some of the things that were happening there. Chloe was always a topic of conversation and her ongoing battle of wills with Bill made Jack laugh. He was glad that he wasn't the only CTU director who had to put up with Chloe. They talked for about an hour before Jack's nurse came in and announced that visiting hours were over and only immediate family was permitted to stay beyond the visiting hours, a statement that almost made Jack wince in pain.

"The doctors tell me that I should be home in a week or two and back to work in a month," Jack told Jarrod as they shook hands. "Maybe you can help out with my next class of recruits. Doyle and I are getting sick of being the ones handcuffed to the chairs in the training exercises."

"Count me in," Jarrod agreed as he made a hasty retreat under the watchful eye of the nurse.

Jack tried to sleep that night and found that he couldn't. No matter how hard he tried to think of other things, his mind kept going back to the conversation with Jarrod. The next morning, unable to think of anything else, Jack picked up the phone and called Marilyn. He summarized his conversation with Jarrod and then asked her opinion.

"What should we do?" he asked. "I'm willing to tell him the truth. How do you feel about it?"

"He doesn't even know if he wants the truth, Jack. Let's just stay out of it," Marilyn begged. "He's going to hate us for knowing and not telling him. I'd rather just keep him in the dark."

"You're wrong," Jack argued. "He wants to know the truth and he deserves to know the truth, if only so that he'll have a medical history. If he's angry with us, so be it. We deserve that."

"I can't understand you, Jack," Marilyn said in an exasperated voice. "You two are friends. Are you willing to give that up?"

"Yes, if it means peace of mind for my son, then yes, I'm willing to give up our friendship," Jack told her sincerely.

It was a month later when Jack and Marilyn finally came to an agreement on the subject. Marilyn had been talking to Jarrod's mother who mentioned that Jarrod had hired a lawyer and a private detective to try and ascertain information on his birth parents. Additionally, Chloe was trying to help him with a computer search. She confided in Marilyn that it was beginning to create a strain in Jarrod's relationship with her and her husband as well as problems with his wife and at work. Marilyn called Jack immediately. They agreed that at this point Jarrod needed to know the truth.

Jack, now home from the hospital, called Jarrod and invited him over to visit one Saturday afternoon. He told Jarrod that there was something that they needed to discuss. The day arrived and Jack and Marilyn sat nervously on the patio behind Jack and Audrey's home. Audrey answered the door when Jarrod arrived, escorted him to the patio and then proceeded to make herself scarce.

Jarrod was surprised to see Marilyn there, but greeted her with a hug and kiss. "Aunt Marilyn," he said, "What are you doing here?"

Marilyn looked down sheepishly as they all settled into chairs. "Jack told me a few weeks ago that you were interested in getting some medical information on your biological parents. I was talking to you mother and she said the same thing."

"That's right," Jarrod shrugged. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Jack and I have some information that will help," she started and then looked to Jack for help.

Jack held out a manila folder to him. "This is all of the medical information on your birth parents, grandparents and half-siblings. We'll make sure that it's updated annually so you're always up to date on it should new conditions or diseases occur."

Jarrod looked at the folder. "How did you do this? I went to the legal firm, to the state and to the hospital where I was born and no one can tell me anything." Jarrod smiled slightly as he looked at Jack. "Everyone knows that you're a hell of a spy, Jack, but since even Chloe couldn't get any information, I don't see how you did it. Please, tell me how you got this information."

Jack didn't answer for a moment. "Jarrod, we're about to cross a bridge here that only goes in one direction. Once we move forward, we can't move back. I can tell you where the information came from, but once I do, everything will change. You and I, you and Marilyn, will never again have the same relationship that we do now. I need to know that you understand that and that you agree to it."

"I can't walk away now, Jack. As far as I'm concerned, our relationship has already changed. The fact that you know more about me from this history," he said holding up the folder, "than I know at this moment changes our relationship. I need to know how you got this."

It was Marilyn's turn to speak. "Jarrod, long before I married Graem, Jack and I went to high school together. We started dating when we were juniors and I knew, even then, that I'd met someone very special. The relationship progressed beyond where it should have for kids our age. We thought we were grown up and we thought we were being careful, but we were wrong. The next thing I knew, Jack broke up with me to enlist in the Army and I was 17 and pregnant."

Jarrod's jaw dropped as realization hit. He looked back and forth between Jack and Marilyn trying to take it all in. "My God!" he gasped. "You two are my birth parents?"

Jack and Marilyn both nodded slightly.

"Do my parents know?" he asked.

"No," Marilyn said quietly. She explained how Phillip Bauer had arranged the adoption without her knowledge or consent and how she had accidentally stumbled onto the identity of his adoptive patents. "And Jack didn't know until you went to the CIA as a recruit," she added.

"How could you have known for all those years and kept it a secret?" Jarrod asked Marilyn, his anger bubbling to the surface. "And you," he said to Jack, "you treated me like dirt during my training! How could you have done that to me?"

"Jarrod, we suspected that you were going to get angry and we understand that," Jack said calmly. "It's appropriate. You should be angry. But you have to understand that whatever we did, we did it with your best interest in mind. You never wanted to know who your birth parents were until recently so neither of us thought that it was right to tell you. As for how I treated you, it was wrong and I apologized at the time and I'll do it again. When I realized that you were my son, I wasn't so sure that I wanted you to live the life of a CTU field agent. I couldn't tell you the truth, so I looked for a way to make you want to quit. I eventually realized with the help of my mother that what I was doing was wrong, that you needed to live your own life. I just never wanted to see you put your life on the line and live like I did. You'll understand when you have your own children that sparing them pain is a priority for every parent."

Jarrod continued to stare at them in disbelief. "Who else knows about this?"

"Just my wife and my mother," Jack told him.

Jarrod looked at Marilyn. "What about Graem? Did Graem know?"

"No," she told him honestly. "I never told Graem. Our relationship was bad enough without him knowing that Jack and I had a child."

Jarrod propped his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands.

"Can I get you a drink?" Jack asked. "A beer?"

"Stronger," Jarrod answered.

"Scotch?"

"Scotch is fine."

Jack started to stand, but Marilyn motioned for him to sit down. "I'll get it," she said as she stepped into the house and approached the wet bar between the kitchen and family room.

Jarrod looked up and spoke quietly. "You know, I've wanted this information for that last month or so and now that I've got it, I don't know what to do with it."

"Take you time," Jack said kindly. "You don't need to make any decisions now. And whatever decision you make, Marilyn and I will understand. We want you to have the medical information, but as for a relationship with either of us, that's up to you. Both of us know that we'll never be your mom and dad. That honor goes to the people who watched you take your first steps and went to all of your school plays and sat up nights when you were sick. The most Marilyn and I could hope for is to maintain a close relationship with you, but that is for you to decide."

Marilyn stepped back out onto the patio and echoed Jack's sentiments. "Jarrod, as far as we're concerned, no one else has to know about this. It's your decision whether or not you tell your parents or your wife. Any role that we have in your life will only be with your consent. If you want us to stay out, we will."

Jarrod nodded and drank the scotch in a couple of swallows. The whole revelation had hit him hard and he was obviously trying to process it all. The three sat silently for several minutes before Marilyn's cell phone rang. She seemed grateful for the excuse to get up and walk away if only for a few moments.

"You know, Jack, I met Kim at the hospital and I know Josh through my mother's friendship with Marilyn," Jarrod started. Jack noted quickly that Jarrod had already dropped the word "aunt" from in front of Marilyn's name. "I guess I should meet my other half brother and sister."

Jack smiled. "I think I can arrange that." Jack stood slowly, still recovering his strength from the accident and started leading Jarrod across the back yard to a sand box in the corner where Audrey played with Jillian. "Jilly, come here a second," Jack called. "I have someone I'd like you to meet."

Jillian jumped up at the sound of her father's voice and ran to him. She was a gregarious child and loved meeting new people. "Hi! Who are you?" she asked.

"This is Jarrod. He's your big brother."

"I didn't know that I had a big brother," she said scrunching up her face in confusion.

Jarrod knelt down next to her. "I didn't know that I had a little sister, either. So I guess that makes us even."

Jillian smiled at him. "Now I have a big brother and a little brother. That's cool!" she exclaimed. "Can I get more brothers and sisters?" she asked looking up at Jack.

"Well let me see. You have Kim and Jarrod and Jay. I think that's probably going to it in the brother and sister department. I think that's enough for one little girl," Jack told her.

"Okay, if you say so, Daddy," Jillian said as she ran back to the sand box. "I'll see you later. Mommy and me are building a castle."

Jack then took Jarrod to the nursery where Jay napped quietly. "And this is your baby brother," Jack said by way of introduction. "He's not as talkative as Jilly yet."

Jarrod smiled at the baby. "But he's just as beautiful," he said taking the baby's hand in his own. "This is a lot to take in, Jack. I hope you understand if I have to take a step back for a while and think this through."

"Take all the time you want. If and when you're ready, Marilyn and I will be there to take on any role you like. We can't ask for any more than that," Jack said as he took in the view of his two sons together for the first time.

SIX MONTHS LATER:

Jack was back at work with a new class of recruits. He had just finished on the firing range with them and was headed back to his office when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Jack," Jarrod called.

Jack turned quickly. He and Jarrod had had little communication over the previous six months. What little they had was professional and other than asking how the other was doing, they avoided any more personal questions.

"How are you?" Jack asked extending his hand to shake. "What are you doing at division?"

"Just a meeting. I'm replacing Doyle as Director of Field Ops."

"That's great!" Jack exclaimed. "Where's Doyle going?"

"Back to Denver to be the Special Agent in Charge of CTU there."

"Well, congratulations. You'll make a great Director of Field Ops."

"Thanks for your confidence. It means a lot to me." He paused for a moment. "Can we sit down in your office and talk for a minute?"

"Of course," Jack answered leading the way. The entered his office and Jack closed the door behind him. He indicated for Jarrod to sit down and he did the same. "What's going on?"

"I just wanted to give you some good news."

"You mean other than your promotion?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I wanted to tell you that you're going to be a grandfather."

"Jarrod, that's wonderful!" Jack said proudly.

"Amy and I just found out a couple of days ago and I wanted you to know. I'm going to call Marilyn this evening."

"She'll be happy," Jack told him.

"Amy and I talked for a long time, Jack, and I've discussed it with my parents. We want you and Marilyn to be part of our lives. We want you to know you grandchild. Amy and I want to have a party so that my parents can meet you and Audrey and your mother and your other children. My parents have agreed. They were shocked at first, but I think they're warming up to the idea. I know it will be awkward at first, but we want you all to know each other."

"Give me the date and time and we'll all be there," Jack assured him. "I'm so proud of you," Jack said and for the first time ever he hugged his son. Emotion was threatening so Jack quickly pulled back. He looked at his watch. "It's almost five o'clock. I think we need to go out for a celebratory beer."

"Sounds like a good idea," Jarrod agreed.

Jack grabbed his jacket and the two headed out the door. As they did, they ran into Bill who was coming from the same meeting that Jarrod had been in.

"Where are you two off to in such a hurry?" he asked.

"We're going out to celebrate impending fatherhood," Jack told him as he slapped Jarrod on the shoulder.

"And impending grandfatherhood," Jarrod added as he turned to look at Jack.

Bill squinted slightly. "Am I missing something?"

Jack and Jarrod both laughed. Jack put his hand on Bill's shoulder and directed him toward the exit. "Oh, it's a long story. Come join us for a beer and we'll tell you all of it."

THE END!


End file.
